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Sep 16, 2020 at 4:27 PMGroundbreaking success for the Federal Association of Parcel and Express Logistics (BIEK). The Regional Court of Cologne ruled in favor of BIEK and decided that Deutsche Post must document the driving and rest times for delivery vehicles. This creates conditions for fair competition in the parcel market.
(Berlin) In its ruling today, the Regional Court of Cologne decided: Deutsche Post (DP AG) is prohibited from using delivery vehicles without documenting the driving and rest times.
The court thus supports the parcel association BIEK, which had sued DP AG for the lack of recording of driving and rest times. In principle, all transport companies are obliged to maintain such records for vehicles of a certain weight class.
Bypassing Recording with Mixed Loads
DP AG does not comply with this obligation, citing an exception clause for the use of vehicles within the framework of universal service. It extends the exception clause to vehicles that are only partially loaded with shipments transported under the universal service – resulting in DP AG not documenting driving and rest times at all. This leads to significant disadvantages for competitors who comply with the documentation obligation, which is associated with high administrative costs.
The court has now ruled: The mixed loading of shipments within and outside the universal service practiced by DP AG does not justify an exemption from the documentation obligation. The former monopoly holder is now prohibited from using delivery vehicles of certain weight classes without recording the driving and rest times.
Marten Bosselmann, Chairman of BIEK: “The ruling is good for the parcel market: Finally, unjustified advantages of Deutsche Post are eliminated and further conditions for fair competition are created.”
Photo: © Adobe Stock/eyewave
